the #1 MUST have part for performance.

what single part did you switch out or put on your bike that made the biggest difference in feel or performance??

for me it would probably be my Eggbeater type C pedals with my pearl izumi mtb shoes. i really wasnt expecting much but they made a HUGE difference. i can definitely pedal harder and faster since my feet are secure and planted, its like day and night compared to the cheap plastic toe straps i used to have.

i got much stronger and my endurance went way up after the first 3 weeks of biking but now i think i need to clean up my diet in order to keep getting better. sometimes i eat BK or Chipotle right after a 30 mile bike ride lol.

Dear tony, just keep in mind that a large portion of the people in this subforum don't ride bicycles far enough, long enough, or often enough to be cognizant of performance differences. Most of the people in here are relatively new to cycling, or are doing it for the first time since they were 12 and are not necessarily driven/focused on performance. As long as their bicycle makes them look a certain way in whatever city they live in or on whatever campus they are on, they could care less if the bottom bracket is full of sand or if their saddle-to-bar drop gives them incredible neck pain.

A good illustration of how inconsequential performance is can be demonstrated by the fact that people continually put Vittoria Zaffiros on their bikes, even nice ones like Makinos, because they come in all white. They have something like 60 tpi, when for the same price you can get Vittoria or Continentals with 250 tpi or more.

Just keep that in mind.

To answer the question: really nice tires can completely change the feel of a bike. Riding clipless is a revolution and makes cycling more fun and allows you to go faster.

Dear tony, just keep in mind that a large portion of the people in this subforum don't ride bicycles far enough, long enough, or often enough to be cognizant of performance differences. Most of the people in here are relatively new to cycling, or are doing it for the first time since they were 12 and are not necessarily driven/focused on performance. As long as their bicycle makes them look a certain way in whatever city they live in or on whatever campus they are on, they could care less if the bottom bracket is full of sand or if their saddle-to-bar drop gives them incredible neck pain.

A good illustration of how inconsequential performance is can be demonstrated by the fact that people continually put Vittoria Zaffiros on their bikes, even nice ones like Makinos, because they come in all white. They have something like 60 tpi, when for the same price you can get Vittoria or Continentals with 250 tpi or more.

Just keep that in mind.

To answer the question: really nice tires can completely change the feel of a bike. Riding clipless is a revolution and makes cycling more fun and allows you to go faster.

Bibs are pretty crazy. Everyone I personally know that has tried them swears by them. I love them myself, they are just really comfortable (if you find the right fit) and they cover the lower back which is a bonus for sure.

To answer the question: really nice tires can completely change the feel of a bike. Riding clipless is a revolution and makes cycling more fun and allows you to go faster.

any recomendtions on a specific brand or type of tire? half of the miles i log are on flat street pavement and the other half is usually on public mountain roads. I get a little nervous everytime i lean into a hairpin on the downhill because i hear the stock kendas on my bike suck. but i dont really need new tires yet, im sure im not using them to their full potential yet.

do bibs really differ that much from regular biking shorts??? whenever i see bibs i always just skim over them i never really considered them cuz they are more expensive than regular biking shorts.

I like my bibs a lot more than my shorts and 90% of the shorts that I have tried on. It might just be coincidence but bibs seem to do a better job supporting my junk than shorts do. The shorts do well when riding upright but I have to readjust after switching between the tops and drops. I haven't tried any super high end shorts though.

You guys make good points about riding clipless. I hadn't considered running clipless on a fg or track bike, mostlly because I can't be bothered to change shoes for my 3-mile commute. But for longer rides, I can see how it'd make a substantial difference.

Also, on bibs, they're amazing. I wear bibs as opposed to shorts because when you're really leaned over, bibs distribute pressure all along the torso's front side, as opposed to how a waistband digs in on the waist.

The biggest comfort-related revelation for me has been a proper fitting. I paid $150 for a guy to put me on a medieval-torture-device-cycle-looking thing, take measurements, make me crank up to 120rpm in 5rpm increments, then hand me a printout of numbers in Dutch. He also fixed my bikes to make them fit better, and I can now ride with basically zero pain/pressure/numbness. 100% worth every penny.